Ralph Morrall
Rafe Morrell, a Black man, was one of eight men held in the Barnwell County jail in South Carolina. Before dawn on Saturday, December 28, 1889, a mob of several hundred masked men broke into the jail, took the jailer's keys, tied him up and forced him to go along. The men were taken to the edge of town and shot to death. Local leaders condemned the killings and the governor was asked for troops to keep the peace, while a statement by local citizens defended the killings as a response to earlier killings of white men, a justification one newspaper said law-abiding people did not accept.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A masked mob of several hundred men took him from the Barnwell County jail before dawn on December 28, 1889, and shot him to death, according to the Barnwell citizens' advisory committee statement and newspaper dispatches.
Reported by: Barnwell citizens' advisory committee statement; Charleston newspaper dispatches and the Associated Press (reporters).
News reports (16)
- Evening Star, December 28, 1889, page 1
- The Morning News, December 29, 1889, page 1
- Richmond Dispatch, December 29, 1889, page 3
- Sacramento Daily Record-Union, December 29, 1889, page 4
- Los Angeles Daily Herald, December 29, 1889, page 1
- The Evening Bulletin, December 30, 1889, page 1
- Evening Journal, December 30, 1889, page 1
- Delaware Gazette And State Journal, January 2, 1890, page 7
- Shenandoah Herald, January 3, 1890, page 2
- The State Chronicle, January 3, 1890, page 3
- Huntsville Gazette, January 4, 1890, page 1
- The Weekly Messenger, January 4, 1890, page 1
- Arizona Weekly Citizen, January 4, 1890, page 1
- The Valley Virginian, January 9, 1890, page 4
- Waterbury Evening Democrat, July 8, 1903, page 7
- Lynchings are part of Georgia’s past and present